He raced home, turned on the TV, and decided to celebrate. He poured a glass of red wine, and before taking a sip, thrust it toward the heavens.

"We did it Dad, we did it,'' Clemente told USA TODAY Sports. "I was so ecstatic. You see all of those jerseys in Pittsburgh with the No. 21 and Clemente on the back, I didn't want that number to be connected to a losing streak.''

The Pirates' torturous skid of 20 consecutive losing seasons - the longest streak in North American sports history - finally is laid to rest, and stories can be told.

Players talked Wednesday about All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen, the face of their franchise, giving an emotional, passionate speech after a defeat early in the year, refusing to accept another losing season.

Pirates coach Jeff Bannister, the only uniformed Pirate around for all 20 losing seasons, was up half the night getting calls from friends and family, including a former college roommate he hadn't spoken with in 30 years.

Pirates second baseman Neil Walker, their only player actually from Pittsburgh, laughed on the telephone with his brother-in-law, Detroit Tigers outfielder Don Kelly, wondering how the family can possibly handle a Pirates-Tigers World Series.

The Pirates, after two decades of misery, are finally back, guaranteed of their first non-losing season since 1992, and vowing they are just getting started.

"No more negativity,'' says McCutchen. "We don't have to think about it anymore, or be a part of it.''

Yes sir, after nine uniform changes, seven managers, four GMs, three ownerships and two stadiums, it's cool to be a Pirate fan again.

It doesn't matter whether you're Tigers manager Jim Leyland, the last man to lead the Pirates to a playoff berth, and received calls and text messages from his buddies in Pittsburgh. It doesn't matter whether you're Jack Dandrea, 50, who grew up a diehard fan and still remembers the Catholic nuns wheeling TVs into his third-grade classroom to watch the 1971 World Series. And it doesn't matter whether you're Greg Johnson and Jim Trdinich, the Pirates' only non-uniformed traveling members still around to remember life before The Streak.

"It's a feeling we all shared,'' said Bannister, who has been with the Pirates for 28 years, "knowing we haven't felt like this in 20 years. I woke up, looked at the standings, and couldn't stop staring at the number.''

Yes, indeed, 81 has never looked so beautiful.

"I know a lot of people here look at me kind of sideways,'' says Walker, "like, 'Who cares? It's just a number.' And that may be true. But at the same time, a person like myself, that's been so endeared to Pirates baseball since I can remember, and knowing the struggles that have gone on for the last two decades, it's a real cool day.

"Everybody's a Pirate fan now. If we played the Tigers in the World Series, I bet [Leyland] would be torn, too.''

Says Leyland, who has lived in Pittsburgh since 1985: "I'm thrilled for them. It's a hell of a baseball town, and everybody is so excited back home. Sports does a lot of wonderful things for people. They feel better about themselves going to work. They feel better about themselves in general.

"Everybody's feeling real good right now.''

The Pirates are not only guaranteed their second-highest attendance total in franchise history at about 2.25 million, but if you can't get a ticket, everyone's watching on TV. The ratings for victory No. 81 was 13.5%, Pirates president Frank Coonelly said, seventh-highest rating in Pirates' history.

And 19 of their top 20-rated broadcasts have been this season.

"One of the reasons I came here,'' said Hurdle, who's in his third season with the Pirates, "was that it was an opportunity to actually re-bond a city with its baseball team. We're in the process of doing that."

The season's flashpoint, the Pirates tell you, was when McCutchen called an impromptu team meeting, imploring his teammates that mediocrity can no longer be tolerated.

"I just wanted to share my thoughts,'' said McCutchen, vying to become the Pirates' first NL MVP winner since Barry Bonds. "I was just so tired of the losing. I didn't want to go through that again.''

Hurdle realized the burden of the streak and the toll it took on an entire community, he said, when Roberto Clemente Jr. and his brother, Luis, came to him in April with their impassioned plea.

"That was a moment where the significance hit you,''' Hurdle said. "We're honoring the Clemente family, and they said, " "There won't be a 21st losing season will there? That can't happen. That's Dad's number.'

"Here you have a proud family, and their one hope is,'There can't be another losing season.'

"I told them, "Trust us. We'll take care of this for you.'''

The trust has returned. So is the belief. Finally, there is hope.

"We don't want to just have a winning record,'' Pirates All-Star closer Jason Grilli says, "and say, 'Oh, let's celebrate that, put some filet mignon on the grill, and watch other guys play for something meaningful in October.

"We won't celebrate that, but we will celebrate making the playoffs and everything else. Jumping around and spraying champagne with your teammates doesn't get old. We need to practice that as much as possible.